Conveying apparatus.



T. EMTMAN.

CONVEYING APPARATUS,

APPLICATION FILED snmxzs. 1911.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

THE NORRIS PETERS 120.,F'I-JOrO-LITHQ.v WASHINGTON. D. c.

CONVEYING APPARATUS.

Application filed September 25, 1911.

endless carrier which travels around suit-.

able wheels arranged at each end and is supported at intermediate points by idlers, and the buckets are carried by the moving cable. I provide novel means for automatically arresting the movement of a bucket without interrupting the motion of the conveying rope or cable, and for this purpose employ switches onto which the buckets are shunted and remain stationary during the process of filling the buckets or emptying the buckets, after which the buckets are moved back onto the traveling conveying cable and are carried along.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan view of one end of the conveyor. Fig. 3 is a section on line 0c -m Fig. 2. Fig. is a perspective of a bucket support.

1. designates the traveling conveyer cable which is mounted on wheels 2 and 3 arranged to rotate on vertical axes. Idlers 4; support the cable 1 at intermedlate points. As clearly shown in Fig. 3 each wheel has a flange 5 which supports the cable 1 and is of a width sufiicient to also support a bucket supporting carriage 6. The bucket supporting carriage 6 has a head 7 with a groove 8 and an eye 9 which receives the bail 10 of the bucket 11. Normally the groove 8 of the head 7 rests over the cable 1 so that the bucket is supported from the cable.

At any point along the cable Where it is desired to load or unload the buckets I provide a switch consisting of a track 12. As clearly shown in Fig. 1 the main portion of the switch 12 lies above the cable 1, while the approaches 13 of the switch are inclined to the level of the cable 1. The track 12 is suitably supported by uprights 13'. The head 7 of the bucket support upon reaching the inclined approach 13 is caused to ride up by reason of its momentum until the groove 8 is above the cable 1 at which time Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 5, 1915.

Serial No. 651,285.

the head 7 rests upon the track 12 and the bucket is stationary, while the cable 1 continues its movement uninterrupted. The bucket while stationary may be filled or emptied as desired, after which the bucket may be pushed along the switch 12 until it arrives at the cable 1 and then as it passes down the incline 13 its weight is again received by the cable 1, and thereupon the bucket is conveyed by the cable 1. It should be understood that the movement of the bucket from the cable to the switch is accomplished automatically, while the return of the bucket from the switch to the cable is accomplished manually by pushing the bucket along until its weight is carried by the cable with suflicient friction to entirely remove the head 7 from the incline 13.

The head 7 1S given the shape herein described in order to automatically shunt the bucket support onto the switch track and it therefore becomes necessary to guard the bucket support when it passes around the pulleys 2 and 3 and prevent the bucket support from flying ofi tangentially, and for this reason the flange 5 of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 3, is made of sufficient width to support the head 7 while a curved guard 14; extends partially around the wheel and prevents the bucket support from passing off the flange when the bucket support is not in engagement with the cable. At the end of the guard it is bent inwardly as at 15 to more closely approach the wheel 2 which will act to push the support 6 inwardly and cause the head 7 to be forced up on top of the cable 1 so that when the support 6 leaves the guard 14- it will be supported by the cable 1. A similar guard is arranged at the wheels 3.

What I claim is 1. In a conveyer, a moving cable, a carriage provided with a cam groove adapted to straddle the cable to support the carriage on the cable, and means adapted to be engaged by said cam groove for diverting the carriage from the cable.

2. In a conveyer, a moving cable, a carriage provided with a cam groove adapted to straddle the cable to support the carriage on the cable and a switch, the end of which being adapted to be engaged by said cam groove to divert the carriage onto the switch.

3. In a conveyer, a moving cable, a switch, a carriage provided with a cam groove adapted to straddle said switch to support the carriage thereon, said switch leading to the cable to guide the carriage thereto to enable the cam groove to shift from the switch and straddle the cable to transfer the carriage onto the cable.

4. In a oonveyer, a moving cable, a carriag'e provided with a cam groove adapted to straddle the cable to support the carriage on the cable, a pulley around which said cable is adapted to travel in changing the direction of travel of the cable, a guard around said pulley adapted to maintain the carriage on the cable against the action of the centrifugal force of the pulley as the carriage travels around and leaves the pulle ln testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 29th day of July, 1911.

THEODORE EMTMAN. In presence of I. D. THORNBURGH, GLADYs RUssnLL.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

